Music, Music for Everyone (Rise and Shine)

You might just well-up from the emotional charge of Williams' successor to A Chair for My Mother and Something Special for Me. It's the luminous tremor of the pictures, combined with what happens, that gives this a special vibrance. Grandma is sick, so the big, rose-print chair in the living room is often empty. Upstairs in bed, she likes it when Rosa and her friends play music for her: "Leora plays the drums, Mae plays the flute, Jenny plays the fiddle and I play my accordion." Worried because the big money jar is empty (maybe, says Mae, "because your mother has to spend all her money to take care of your grandma"), Rosa recalls her mother telling her about her other grandma, who played the accordion at parties and weddings, and was show more paid. Grandma's all for it. The Oak Street Band is formed; gets help, practices. And their first job is to play at a party for Leora's great-grandparents, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their comer market. (Now it's run by Leora's mother, who plays the radio. "But for the party she said there just had to be live music.") The children are first shy, then they play and play "like a real band"—while a whirl of dancers young and old fills two wordless pages. The book closes in quiet exultation, with Rosa putting her share of the evening's money into the big jar. Brimming to look at—see Grandma calling out the window, with big snowflakes in her hair—and heart-catching, sometimes, to listen to.

-Kirkus Review show less

Music, Music For Everyone is about a group of friends who all play instruments. Rosa’s grandmother is sick and cannot go downstairs any longer. She comes up with the idea to form a band and play for money. She plans to use the money to help take care of her grandmother. The Oak Street Band plays their first gig at a wedding and each member gets paid. While reading this story, I though about the street performers I see in the French Quarter of New Orleans. These children may also be trying to earn money to help their own families. I liked this story because music has a way of bonding people together even if it is just for one song.

A young girl is sad that her grandmother is ill and knows that the big money jar is empty for the same reason. She knows that her grandmother enjoys listening to her and her friends (Leora on the drums, Mae on the flute, Jenny on the fiddle, and herself on the accordion) play music together -- and she also knows that her other grandmother used to earn money playing the accordion at parties and weddings. So she gets the idea that she and her friends might be able to earn some money to put in the big money jar. Grandma encourages them and the girls start practicing. Finally Leora's mother hires them for a family anniversary party. They play, everyone dances, and at the end of the night each girl gets a share of the money earned. The show more narrator immediately puts her money into the big jar on the shelf. show less

After reading this book, I had some mixed feelings about the book after reading it. I liked the book because of the authors writing, it flows nicely. At the beginning of the story, the book talks about a young child and her grandmother. Her grandmother is sick and she is taking care of her and plays music for her with her accordion. Toward the middle of the story, the young girl and her friends talk about the jar that used to have a lot of money in it. Money in the jar went to buying the grandmother a chair and then the young girl an accordion. Her and her friends started playing instruments together and find out that the grandmother used to play and get money for it. At the end of the story, the children play all the instruments at a show more fiftieth anniversary party and they end up getting money for it. The young girl in the story, puts her money in the jar. The story flows nicely in the book. But I didn’t like the book because even though the story flows nicely, it is confusing a bit because the book starts with the chair, to the grandmother, to the accordion and back to the chair. I feel like it skips around a little so I feel like children may get a bit confused on what is going on in the story. Even though the book jumps around, it has a good message to it. The message is that we should help take care of our family. The mother used the money in the jar to buy the grandmother a chair and the girl an accordion. At the end of the story, the girl puts the money that she earned in the jar to help start filling up the jar again. The little girl is helping fill up the jar just like the mother helped use the money to take care of her mother. show less

This book was very nice. It was about a group of friends who each played an instrument. Rosa's grandmother is sick and is unable to be downstairs anymore. There is a money jar that they family has and it has been empty for awhile. Rosa comes up with a plan to start a band and play for money. Rosa and her friends create the Oak Street Band and play one night at an anniversary party. The money they make they divide up and Rosa immediately puts hers in the empty jar!

This was a Contemporary realistic fiction story about a girl who helps take care of her grandma. She brushes her hair, brings her soup, and tells her about whats going on outside the house. She and her friends Leora, Jenny and Mae play music for grandma. Her grandma encourages them to start the Oak Street Band. Leora's mother hires them to play for a party for Leora's great-grandmother and great-grandfather.

I enjoyed the close family relationships represented in this story. The illustrations were very soothing to look at.

For an activity, put together several items to use to make music, a washboard, beans in a can with a lid on it, etc. With practice, perhaps the children can play a song for the school.

Its about a little girl who tries to play music to earn money for her grandmothers illness.